From navigating AI search to understanding the impact of P/E and savoring the beauty of our economy and our world. A look back at what we learned in 2025.
This time of year, thought leaders everywhere are in a rush to proclaim their hopes and predictions for the year ahead. It’s always exciting to think about what’s next. But before we hit that little rabbit on the podcast player … I think it’s important to remember that life is as much about the journey as it is about the destination.
Before we start fixating on the year ahead, I like to pause and think about where we are and what we’ve learned. This is my fourth consecutive year writing this “reflections” piece. It’s meant to capture everything we’ve learned from our journey in this crazy Wonka-esque business we call marketing, our work with clients, and from life in general. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoy writing it.
FIVE MARKETING LESSONS FROM 2025
#1 – AI Makes the Headlines, but Opportunities May Lie Elsewhere
If there was one business news narrative in 2025 it was certainly AI. And for good reason. As of this week, 34% of the total value of the S&P 500 is concentrated in 7 technology companies. I’ve seen some estimates stating that AI spending drove as much as half of U.S. GDP growth this year.
Many consulting and IT services firms are getting into the game. But clients are skeptical. In fact, as it relates to generative AI, clients don’t believe their consulting partners have substantially more expertise than they do. Since true AI talent is scarce, they’d prefer to work directly with the AI companies themselves who are more likely to have access to that cutting-edge talent. At least on the AI portion of their investment.
All that said, for AI to have any sort of meaningful impact in an enterprise, it’s going to be less about technology and more about data, culture and behaviors. The best opportunities right now for firms appear to be in helping companies get their data house in order, helping them develop a culture that’s receptive to change and to employing AI, and bringing their industry expertise to bear to make practical business use of AI.
Just this week I was talking with a marketer in a multi-billion-dollar company. The company is investing in an enterprise-wide implementation of Anthropic. While they’re relying on Anthropic for the AI chops, Anthropic is bringing in a partner for its specific industry knowledge and ability to make that AI investment actually work for the business.
#2 – GenAI Search Demands a Two-Prong Content Strategy
I’ve written about this many times over the last 24 months (an example here and another one here). Traditional Google search has jumped the shark. It’s been replaced by generative AI enabled search and chat experiences. This shift is massively changing clients’ digital buying behavior.
In the content era, clients regularly used Google to search for perspective on their most pressing business issues. Those search queries often landed them on your site whether they already knew you or not. A whole industry of content marketing and SEO emerged from this simple interaction.
In the AI era, clients are using or will use a generative AI-enabled search or chat experience that offers answers to their questions within a “walled garden.” That chat experience draws from your content and your perspective. It is designed not to deliver clients to your website, but to keep those searchers where they already are. In ChatGPT, Google Gemini, Perplexity, or Claude.
This change requires rethinking your content strategy. For the first time ever, you need both a strategy for humans – that demonstrates your perspective on their real business issues. And you need a strategy for “bots” – that ensures you show up in those GenAI search queries. Oh, I’ve written the solution a bunch too (go here and here).
#3 – Media Relations is Coming Back En Vogue
The last 10-12 years has been a strange time for media companies. The Internet has pretty much wiped out the local newsroom and newspaper. And streaming has shrunk cable news and local news viewers. A lot of what we think of as traditional news media is struggling.
On top of this, it appears younger consumers are placing less trust in brands and institutions. And more trust in individuals. They’re not so sure they trust MSNBC or Fox. But they’re pretty sure they trust Scott Galloway or Joe Rogan. (One just needs to look at the over-sized impact that podcasters had in the 2024 election cycle to understand this).
Despite all that, media relations might be more important than ever. As it turns out, those GenAI search tools we spent so much time talking about are working hard to figure out what’s true and what’s not. And one way they do that is by citing reputable sources. Unlike their millennial counterparts, GenAI tools tend to deem an article in WSJ as more trustworthy than one on LinkedIn or Substack. A company that’s talked about by WSJ is understood to be more noteworthy and worth citing than one who’s not.
As a result, getting your thinking published in the right places and getting the media talking about your firm is taking on an even more valuable role than it has in the past.
#4 – Original Primary Research Is Proving More Valuable Than Ever
As we shift from the Content Marketing era to the AI era, the value of original primary research is only increasing. There are two big reasons for this.
First, original primary research, especially repeatable, longitudinal research lets you build an ongoing relationship with the marketplace. By studying an issue, in-depth, over time your firm becomes known for its research. Clients come to expect it and look forward to it. Scott Brinker’s Martech Landscape, The Tercera 30, Boston Consulting Group’s Future 50 are all examples of people and firm’s putting this approach to work.
The second reason is that GenAI search tools love original primary research. I’ll say it again. Despite the real experiences we’ve all had with AI hallucinations, GenAI search and chat tools truly do want to provide users with facts. Facts, generally speaking, are based on data. So, if you want to get found in GenAI search, bringing original data will make it easier.
THREE LESSONS FROM OUR 2025 CLIENT WORK
#5 – Our Collective Narrative about P/E Might Be Wrong
I think we all have a general sense of a “private equity playbook” for value creation. It’s based on conversations we have with peers who work at a company that was acquired, articles we read in the news, or direct experience as a consultant or advisor.
The playbook in our minds is straight forward. Load an acquired company up with debt. Let go as much staff as operationally possible to boost earnings. Roll together a few “like kind” companies. And sell for a higher multiple.
But, as it turns out, that story we’ve been telling ourselves might not actually be true. At least in the middle market. The latest research on P/E from the National Center for the Middle Market looked at over 10 years of performance data and found that P/E backed companies consistently grow both revenue and employment faster than their peers.
Of course, there are some drawbacks of the P/E experience, but it appears employment growth may not be one of them.
#6 – AI is Not an Existential Threat, But It Will Change Your Firm
Collaborating with Tercera on their latest POV around the impact of AI on IT services was one of the more interesting and challenging projects we worked on this year. The narrative in the market all year was that AI would be an existential threat to the consulting industry as we know it. The ultimate disruptor to firms and advisors.
To hear the news media tell it, consulting would cease to exist in 12 months. The reality on the ground is entirely different. Both Tercera’s research and an ad-hoc poll I ran during a webinar indicate that the vast majority of leaders are very optimistic about the impact AI will have on their firms.
All that said, AI is spawning a whole host of new market entrants and new ways of working. Firms that don’t evolve will be left behind.
#7 – Navigating the Identity Economy
For all of us who see AI as an existential threat to the workforce, the very existence of the cybersecurity industry makes for a good counter argument. Thirty years ago, when the Internet was just becoming commercially viable it was pretty easy to see how it would destroy certain types of businesses and jobs – newspapers, yellow page directories, “disc jockeys,” local news anchors all doomed or in trouble.
In hindsight it seems obvious, but at the time it was much harder to imagine that 30 years on the cybersecurity market would be a $300B industry full of a whole slew of new jobs and opportunities.
One of the more interesting trends in cybersecurity is how the epicenter around risk has really shifted to identities. A whole black market for stolen identity credentials has exploded, and companies everywhere are working with specialized consultancies like BeyondID and Key Data Cyber to keep up.
This report we helped them bring to market looks at the rise of the identity economy and what companies need to do secure their digital footprint in a world where companies are adding thousands of new access points for autonomous AI agents while battling AI-enabled threats from bad actors.
#8 – Digital Payments are Incredibly Complicated
I can’t say as much about this as I’d like because much of what I’m talking about is still in development. But one of our clients, a retail consulting firm that does a lot of work around payments and compliance, has educated us on how incredibly complicated seemingly simple transactions are.
Every time you swipe a credit card, redeem a gift card, or even just enter your loyalty information into a system an complex mesh of digital information and movement spurs into action. Data flies everywhere you could possibly imagine in milliseconds to enable approval (or denial) of that transaction.
Cybersecurity experts cringe in fear. Marketers celebrate a new data point. The finance team adds to the ledger. And you walk out 1.2 seconds later with a smile. The beautiful complexity and efficiency of the modern economy will never cease to amaze me.
ONE LIFE LESSON FROM 2025
#9 – The Amalfi Coast is Breathtaking
When asked what I do for a living, my kids don’t really know what to say. “He stands in his office all day and talks on Teams.” They’ve come to call me a “professional talker.” It’s hard to counter. I have a lot to say.
But a life well-lived is not one that solely peaks through a digital window into a world on the other side. This year we were fortunate enough, as a family, to visit Italy. We made our way from Venice much of the way down “the boot” to the Amalfi Coast.
The blue of the Mediterranean Sea is indescribable. As is the beautiful juxtaposition of both hillside villas and Roman ruins overlooking it.
Thanks, Mark, for all your travel tips, which helped make Italy an amazing experience!
CHEERS TO 2026
As my last newsletter of 2025, I leave you with thanks. To our clients, thank you for bringing me on your thought leadership and marketing journey this year. It’s always an honor. To our writers, designers, partners and contractors, thank you for all your hard work bringing our clients’ aspirations to life. For our followers, thank you for reading and listening. I know how valuable your time is. I hope my POV on this crazy world we call professional services marketing has helped you gain a business advantage. Wishing all of you a wonderful 2026.
